Method: In a large bowl, combine yeast, warm milk, sugar and one cup of flour. Cover and let it rise until doubled in size. Beat together eggs, 1/2 cup of melted butter (reserve 1/4 cup for brushing on the pastry) and salt. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture and blend. Stir in about two more cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time. The dough should be soft and moist. Knead dough for about 10 minutes on floured surface. Don't worry, it’s a joy to knead as the dough is smooth and highly malleable. Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise covered until doubled in size—about an hour. After dough has risen, punch it down and pull off egg-sized pieces. In your hands, roll pieces into balls and then flatten to about three inches in diameter. Brush with melted butter. Place flattened pieces on a greased cookie sheet, cover and let rise again for another half-hour. After second rising, with your finger gently make an indention in the center of the dough (be careful not to flatten it too much) and fill with one tablespoon of fruit filling (recipe to follow) and sprinkle with posypka (recipe to follow). Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Brush with melted butter when you take them out of the oven and serve warm.

Method: Soak the dried fruit in water for a few hours or overnight. When fruit is re-hydrated, cook on low for 15 minutes, adding sugar to taste (I find the fruit sweet enough so I don’t add sugar, but you may prefer it sweeter), cinnamon and lemon zest. Mash with a potato masher until you have a puree.

This recipe makes about 18 kolaches, depending on how large you make them. And the variations are endless. For additional flavor you can soak the dried fruit in tea such as Earl Grey or you could sprinkle goat cheese on the apricot kolaches before baking. You can also make sausage and jalapeno kolaches by wrapping the three-inch flattened piece of dough around a two-inch piece of sausage and a couple of pickled jalapeno slices.

Replies to This Discussion

I had heard of kolaches but had never tried them until this morning. However, they were nothing like the recipe or the picture! I stopped by the Southern Maid Doughnuts & saw them on the menu. What I got was a similar pastry but the filling was sausage & cheese. Did I get gypped?

In small saucepan, heat milk, 3 tbsp (45 mL) of the butter, all but 2 tsp (10 mL) of the sugar and salt until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Let cool to lukewarm.

In large bowl, dissolve remaining sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in milk mixture and egg yolks. Stir in 2 cups (500 mL) of the flour to form shaggy dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary, until smooth and elastic, 10 minutes. Place in large greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.